farfegnugen

Just when she thought she had opened all of her birthday presents...a somber affair that year...she came across a Hot Wheels car and a torn out page from a Volkswagon Beetle brochure with some scribbling near the 2004 VW Beetle color line-up: "the choice is yours baby".

She tossed the miniature car into the trash, crumpled the torn out page and decided to buy her own car.

they might be giants

on meeting an old friend for a drink....

he looks fashionable...he shows me his d & g kicks -courtesy of one of his students whose husband is the "dr. ruth of instanbul"...he smokes one of my parliaments....and we talk about the past 10 years.

funny how my parliaments bring out the smoker in so many non-smoking men i know!

we talk about dating men in instanbul...hell, asia too...and it is a nightmare...my friend reports. however, i still want to crash his couch anyway!

the night goes on and i see people who look so young...wait...i am getting older...oh! my friend announces "skinny jeans!" whenever he sees a male wearing a pair...my friend admits that he forgets that "people can understand english" here and we laugh as the male in the skinny jeans looks at us.

i ask him his opinion of the most trying part about living abroad...and he reports that "it is the little shit that breaks you"...isn't that the way of it!?

still...i ponder a ticket to instanbul before august...

revisiting an old post

revisiting an old book
"I am more comfortable in airports than I am in either of the houses I call, with undeserved nostalgia, Home. I am more comfortable in airports than I was in any of the eight different schools where I learned all of the things I now cannot remember. Airports are limbo spaces - blank, undemanding, nuetral. Expectations are clear. I am the passenger. I am coming or going. I am late, on time, or early. I must have a ticket. I must have identification. I must not carry a weapon. Beyond these qualifications, I do not have to define this body. I do not have to belong to one camp, school, or race, one fixed set of qualifiers, adjectives based on someone else's experience. I do not have to remember who, I, or anyone else, thinks I am. I am transitional space, place of a thousand hellos and a million goodbyes." -Rebecca Walker

Saturday February 16, 2008 - 12:37pm (PST) Permanent Link 0 Comments

kid fears

...ah....i am a sap. just got home from a rather lucrative evening of poker. there were a few interruptions to catch the academy awards. kate made her way to the podium and i got teary and clapped without reservation. i usually tear up when they do the montage of who has passed during the past 12 months...but that part was overshadowed by some serious hands of texas hold 'em. kate got me this year. and may i just say, she is ever the class act.

getting home from my glowing evening of poker and happy tears...and fresh from a road trip to fiddletown...i step up to my front door and fetch my keys. keys? keys....oh shit. again? really? we're doing this again? it's almost 11 at night and my keys are nestled on a cushion, or counter inside. it is too late to call the landlords who live in b to the f to the e. so i sit on my back porch and think this one over...

i spy a damp towel that was meant to dry...except that it has rained today...

i decide to pull some gangster-style action to get inside. towels muffle the broken glass, right? i get the towel in place and give a little kick to the bottom glass plate of my 5 panel french door and presto....like the movies, i'm in. relieved to be inside...i don't feel cool...i just feel like a jackass.

spare key: $2.50, window replacement: u/a
kicking in a window to break in ganster style: youtube calls this one.

tall tales

Growing up, my parents used to like to tell me about the lean years early in their marriage. Powdered milk, macaroni and cheese, travel by way of covered wagon - and they did say covered wagon. It was also during this period of time that I had a fondness for our then president, Jimmy Carter and his foreign policies....

One evening at the dinner table...

I took in this tale once again. But this time I tabulated the information in my little noggin as best a little girl could. There were several minutes of silence as I carefully threaded macaroni onto the tines of my fork...careful not to split them. I finally looked at my parents and asked...

Mom, dad...were you refugees?

humble pie

in keeping with the theme of new and not-the-most-pleasant discoveries recently...

a little yoga session affirmed that i am not very flexible....and this scares the hell out of me.

rearview mirrors are brutal: i have a new best friend...and his name is Tweezerman.

Pauly Walnuts wants his hair back

and alas, i have cabin fever.

i think that's it for today - - let me know if i forgot anything.

strange (pre)occupation

she moves from one machine to the next - inspecting, rotating and folding clothes. the old man keeps trying to make conversation with her about movies - movies that star children. at first the conversation seems innocent. frankly, she is in her mode and just wants to get this task out of the way. the old man keeps talking about 'home alone' (he believes there are 5 installments), 'dennis the menace' and about the motel where he lives. he keeps talking even though she continues her folding - making no attempt at eye contact. she comes to the last article - a red scarf and she folds it deliberately.

is love a primary color?

I'm off for a little break. Going to do some movie watchin', Swiss charro eatin, tart makin', jewelry creatin', happy dance booty shakin' celebratin' with my gnomies.

ciao!

fluff 'n fold

it wasn't that long ago that xm and sirius merged. satellite cable brought xm into my home for years and i grew to prefer satellite radio. and then the stations began to change a little...there was xm cafe that became "starbucks xm cafe", as if the coffee giant wasn't everywhere else already...it was now being pumped into my living room. oprah had her station, howard stern had his - it was becoming 'dial-a-brand'.

i later switched to charter cable where the music stations display all sorts of factoids - - and i am a little addicted to those. but today i read that xm/sirius is about to file for bankruptcy. what happened there? there is talk that paying celebrities like oprah and stern did xm/sirius in - but i'm skeptical of that claim. now, like starbucks - which really seemed to be everywhere in recent years and is becoming smaller by the week - how will xm/sirius weather this financial quagmire?

will we hear less of xm/sirius...or less "brand" on the station list?

i'm curious to see how this one plays out - and in doing so, i'm going with some kenny wisdom...

Ev'ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away and knowin' what to keep

...even Kenny knew when to go back to what he did best...when was the last time you ate at a Kenny Roger's Roasters. yeah, that's what I thought.

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.

a good egg

he makes his way to the admin. building by way of razor scooter. there is no appointment set, but he tries to reach his worker anyway. she comes out to let him know that he was approved. he does a little happy dance and reaches into his pocket - giving her a cadbury egg and unwraps one for himself. he gets a home, and the two enjoy their cadbury's as celebration.

you don't say?

man describes his labradoodle as "not the most handsome" of labradoodles...the disclaimer: the fence just didn't go up fast enough. he was walking alone.

Must Love Dogs

I've been telling friends about this great little coffee house a bit west of Weaverville since I visited the place last summer.

Patrons walk in to a great room with deep set windowss that look out to the patio and river, rustic walls with nooks for local art, candles and a jar containing doggie treats for 25 cents.

In fact, the first time I visited - there was an older dog wandering out on the patio. Immediately, I felt comfortable - taking in the summer morning with my coffee in hand, overlooking the river. Simply gorgeous. While I was not traveling with a pet - I liked that the Straw House seemed quite pet friendly - the doggy treat jar, my canine friend on the patio, even poop bags in a tidy container in the parking lot - a few feet away from a grassy area where it would appear that you could take your dog if you wanted to.

So months pass - - I tell Scalder about this place on the side of the road, a little bit west of Weaverville. Knowing that Ms. Greta P. accompanies Scalder much of the time - I figured, this would be an ideal place to go for a drive.



As I said, months have passed. I'm not sure if the Straw House has changed owners - or it was an "off" day. Scalder walks out onto the patio before coming in to ask the woman behind the counter if she can have Greta on the patio. The woman snaps "dogs have to be a leash!". Okay, but can they be on the patio? "dogs have to be on a leash". Um...so I go in and ask..."Is it alright to sit out on the patio with the dog, she is leashed?" The woman says "there are no dogs allowed on the patio". Okay.
So, Greta waits (on a leash) outside by the entrance. Patrons stop and talk to Greta, petting her and inquiring about her breed.


Finally, it's time to go. Scalder wants to let Greta run around before the drive back to Redding. Spotting the poop bag container on the tree right next to the gate leading to the grassy area....she heads for the gate. Before Scalder sets one toe past the threshold - the woman of "dogs must be on a leash" fame RUNS out and frantically says "dogs are not allowed on the grass, you can't have your dog out there". Okay, and we're off.

The Straw House is still a delightful place for a cup of coffee by the river - especially if you're camping in nearby Helena and want to cheat and go grab coffee out versus the rustic camping method. BUT - this place is sending a lot of mixed messages regarding dogs. I suggest a sign that says "dogs allowed in parking lot only" if that is even the case. It is unclear if they are even welcome there.

don't overcomplicate it

i'm on a mission...i'm dedicated. i am pumped. but sometimes i really want some chocolate...chocolate doughnuts with chocolate icing....but true to my mission....i seek out some artificial joy in my fridge. AH! sugar free chocolate pudding, check. I move on to the cabinets...because this cup of "chocolate" goo is not going to do it...I must doctor it up. So back to the cabinet...Marshmellows, check...I grab those and continue my search....Grape Nuts. I just know that when I mix these ingredients up I am going to have a full flavor dish of Rocky Road ...and it will be good.

There is no mantra to make this so.......

Upset tummy, check.